Harry Potter and the Quest for the Other Five
by misconstrue
Summary: [WIP] Picking up the series where JKR left off, the Trio is off doing what you thought they'd be doing at the end of HalfBlood Prince, except not quite how you thought they would do it, since it's my muse at work and not yours. duh
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Harry Potter and the Quest for the Other Five  
**Email**: y7.yoli(at)gmail(dot)com  
**Rating**: T  
**Summary**: (WIP) Picking up the series where JKR left off, the Trio is off doing what you thought they'd be doing at the end of _Half-Blood Prince_, except not quite how you thought they would do it, since it's my muse at work and not yours. (duh)

**Notes**: My summary stinks and my muse is moody, give it a shot anyway? It is woefully unbeta-d and this is just the ROUGH DRAFT wherein I get all my ideas out and you **review** and tell me how I am such a hack writer and that I did XYZ AND Q wrong. Be specific and brutal, but use legible grammar plz. I wrote this at midnight and reread it thrice so no miracles but it is a lot of fun and I think I like where it's going. I really do hope you like it though.

* * *

Ron was warm and comforting, a little scratchy in the black dress robes but it wasn't as if hers were any better as far as softness went. Hermione sniffed and felt her eyes filling up, again. The tears just wouldn't stop and her lungs couldn't remember what it meant to breathe, to take breaths that went in and filled before leaving again. She was sobbing; smart girls didn't sob. They maintained control at all times over their own emotions-there-was-none-of-this-weakeness-bu-but-Dumbledore-Dumbledore-was-gone-and-the-whole-fate-of-the-Wizarding-world-had-gone-to-pot-and-and— 

He hugged her tighter, as if he knew; wasn't that funny? The dullest, thickest, blindest, most stupidly out of touch with his emotions, sweetest, funniest, most adorably awkward and earnest and sweet sweet sweet boy in the whole wide world was holding her and, it was a little tight, she wasn't one hundred percent sure if she could breathe, but it was okay because she was hyperventilating a little anyway so even if she could breathe — haha, sometimes you forget — it would have been all right because then she would be in the same position she was now: snot everywhere and tears and red eyes from trying to discreetly dry them on his dress robes, which didn't really work because wool doesn't absorb water, that's how the sheep stayed dry.

"Hermione?" He tried to whisper but there was all this wet, phlegmy _gunk_ in his throat so it sounded more like "her-myah-nee" with a rasp around the "myah" so he sounded like Filch with post-nasal drip.

The greatest wizard of all time was dead and he had slime in his throat, was going to end up falling in love with some mangy _cat_ and his best friend just walked away all by himself (without his sister! why was he upset about that?) and was being intercepted by one of the top five most dodgy men in Britain, the other four being his brothers Fred and George; Hugo Bagman; Fudge; and, of course, You-Know-Who. Okay, so that was six but it was okay because they're _all_ dodgy. Although not as dodgy as some OTHER blokes, but they were EVIL and there's a difference. But then maybe You-Know-Who should be taken off . . . and there goes his friend!

"Hermione?" He tried again and sounded a little less like Filch with a cold and more like his dad after one of the twins exploded something really big and his mom found out about it first.

"Huh?" She got up gingerly and tried to keep the snot from stringing off of his jacket and onto her face. She felt bad leaving it there but she couldn't clean it off right then could she?

He had snot dripping off the edge of his nose too and she felt a little less bad, except he looked really cute and it made her feel bad because she wasn't supposed to be thinking like that what with Dumbledore ONLY JUST IN THE GRAVE. He would have wanted her to be happy but he definitely would not want her thinking about Ronald Weasley like _that_ right now. Bad, bad!

He was looking at her strangely and she tentatively reached a hand up to wipe her eyes and sort of smear it pass her nose really quickly, one swipe per side. It would be a lot better if he didn't watch her the whole time. That was really unnerving.

"What is it, Ron?" Her voice sounded like Polyjuice after it thickened and she coughed a little, into the back of her really gross hand before trying to wipe it unobtrusively on the side of her dress robes.

He pushed his chin out towards her. That was strange, why would he do that? Oh! He wanted her to look behind her; that made more sense. She turned her head around.

"Hey," she blinked a bit and checked again. "Harry's not here."

"Yeah," he coughed nervously. "He's, uh, over there." He pointed behind her shoulder and she eased herself out of his lap. It was all cold and wet where she'd been lying and he was a little sad that she wasn't there anymore, in a completely nonsexual way because he really did like her, as a person and it was nice to just be able to sit there and hold her and let her cry.

She fumbled back into her seat as she tried to turn around and look. "Oops! Sorry, Hannah!" She whispered really loudly. She hadn't meant to hit her! And she had to squint to see because it was so sunny, which wasn't right! funerals were supposed to be dank and gloomy so you could be sad and not think about how Dumbledore would have loved a day like this or, or any of that stuff.

There was Harry walking around the lake while that . . . that, _person_ Scrimgeour hobbled next to him pretending like he cared or something stupid and completely unlikely. She turned back around because it made her angry and anxious watching them and her heart hurt enough already, she didn't want to . . .

"What do you think they're talking about?"

Ron narrowed his bleary eyes as he stared at them. "I dunno, probably just Scrimgeour pretending like he's really upset that Dumbledore's dead or something." His nose twitched a little as he tightened his jaw.

"Should we go over then?" She bit her lip. It was Harry's battle, it was Harry's battle, he's a big boy now, he can do it, he's Harry Potter —

"Uh," he leaned forward a little because it looked like they had stopped and Scrimgeour seemed angry and if he threatened his best friend then — "yeeeah, wait, no, no, wait, yes. Yes, we should go."

He stood up really quickly because Scrimgeour was limping away like he wanted to hurt Harry and it was bad enough that You-Know-Who wanted to do it; no one else needed to sign up on the list. He held out a hand to Hermione because Harry was her friend too and she'd want to help beat Scrimgeour's head in, although she'd do it in this nonviolent, untraceable not-getting-in-trouble sort of way, and she was better at spells anyway. Her hand was a little clammy and kind of cold as he pulled her up. She looked confused by his changing his mind but didn't ask any questions, just sniffed again and let him pull her before they jogged towards Harry.

Of course Harry didn't stop, because that was not his style, but Hermione had shorter legs and Ron had to slow down so she didn't trip and it took them a while to get to the beech tree, and by then he was totally ready to hit someone.

She rushed forward and stopped about a foot away from Harry before asking him in a whisper, "What did Scrimgeour want?"

"Same as he wanted at Christmas," Harry shrugged. "Wanted me to give him inside information on Dumbledore and be the Ministry's new poster boy."

He knew it! Fucking no good brother of his, that had Percy's name written all over it. Family obviously meant nothing to him if he would do something like that, prat, motherfucking arsehole, stupid sodding not-brother. He turned over to Hermione and said loudly, "Look, let me go back and hit Percy!"

"No," she said firmly, grabbing his arm. She couldn't let him do that, violent, crazy, lovable, protective, wonderful — Won-Won was going to get them all in big, big trouble.

"It'll make me feel better!"

Harry laughed. She had to grin a little because it was so typically _Ron_ and — she looked up at the castle and the smile died because this was not the place for laughter and there was a DEAD MAN here and the world might as well have died as well with him.

"I can't bear the idea that we might never come back," she said softly. "How can Hogwarts close?"

"Maybe it won't," said Ron. "We're not in any more danger here than we are at home, are we? Everywhere's the same now. I'd even say Hogwarts is safer; there are more wizards inside to defend the place. What d'you reckon, Harry?"

"I'm not coming back even if it does reopen," said Harry. There is this feeling you get when you know that something is over, that there is nothing to do, nothing to change and nothing that will ever happen again: it's time to move on; that was how he felt about Hogwarts.

Ron gaped at him. What was that supposed to mean? What would Hogwarts be without Harry to be Quidditch captain and his Potions partner and . . . and his best friend who . . .

Hermione smiled sadly. "I knew you were going to say that. But then what will you do?" He was too good, too good and noble and everything you read about in the books and she would have given everything to know how he did it.

"I'm going back to the Dursleys' once more, because Dumbledore wanted me to," said Harry. "But it'll be a short visit, and then I'll be gone for good."

"But where will you go if you don't come back to school?"

"I thought I might go back to Godric's Hollow," Harry muttered. He had had the idea in his head ever since the night of Dumbledore's death. "For me, it started there, all of it. I've just got a feeling I need to go there. And I can visit my parents' graves, I'd like that."

"And then what?" said Ron.

"Then I've got to track down the rest of the Horcruxes, haven't I?" said Harry, his eyes on Dumbledore's white tomb, reflected in the water on the other side of the lake. "That's what he wanted me to do, that's why he told me all about them. If Dumbledore was right — and I'm sure he was — there are still four of them out there. I've got to find them and destroy them, and then I've got to go after the seventh bit of Voldemort's soul, the bit that's still in his body, and I'm the one who's going to kill him. And if I meet Severus Snape along the way," he added, "so much the better for me, so much the worse for him."

There was silence as they tried to absorb what he said and Hagrid's sobs echoed across the water. This was the end, of Hogwarts, of safety — real and imaginary, of everything they had ever known and of their childhood, of the innocence of knowing that Dumbledore would always be there, their big wise protector to come in, save the day and award house points before the closing feast. There would be none of that, ever again.

"We'll be there, Harry," said Ron.

"What?"

"At your aunt and uncle's house," said Ron. "And then we'll go with you wherever you're going." So there would be no more Hogwarts, no more boys' dormitories or Quidditch pitch, no Filch and Mrs. Norris to watch out for at night but that did not mean that Harry could do it alone, he needed someone to be his lookout and his backup.

"No —" said Harry quickly; he had not counted on this; he thought they understood that he was going to do it alone, because it was too dangerous. Weren't friends supposed to understand you?

"You said to us once before," said Hermione quietly, "that there was time to turn back if we wanted to. We've had time, haven't we?"

"We're with you whatever happens," said Ron. "But mate, you're going to have to come round my mum and dad's house before we do anything else, even Godric's Hollow."

"Why?"

"Bill and Fleur's wedding, remember?"

Harry looked at him, startled; the idea that something, like a wedding, something so normal and happy could still exist after . . . after everything was incredible, it was _wonderful_.

"Yea, we shouldn't miss that," he said finally.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title**: Harry Potter and the Quest for the Other Five  
**Email**: y7.yoli(at)gmail(dot)com  
**Rating**: PG-13  
**Summary**: (WIP) They sit by the lake and scheme because these things take planning, you know.

**Notes**: So, this one got about a week's worth of revisions and neurotic agonizing over. Hopefully that makes it a better work of whatever. I would like to make a shout-out to the comment and tracking features of MSWord, you guys rock, and my AP summer work, I wouldn't be sitting here in front of the laptop without you guys.

Any readers out there should review because it makes me warm, fuzzy and MOTIVATED.

"Ron?" The twins came strolling over to the tree by the lake. "Are you ready?" one asked.

"Hey, Harry, Hermione," the other said.

The Trio looked up and nodded in greeting. Hermione slipped her wand back into her pocket; she had just finished casting _Scourgify_ so now her dress robes weren't all wet and snotty. She still had to do Ron's shoulder though; it looked damp and parts of it shone with snot.

"Huh?" Ron tore his eyes from the calm, glittering lake.

"Did you pack your stuff yet?" George asked.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, it's all up in my dorm."

He nodded. "We'll go get it then. Mum and Dad will be there up in a while but they wanted to make sure that you and Ginny were already packed first. They've opened up the Express to family members and they've added few extra stops."

"How does that work?" Hermione asked. Were they using an expanding charm or simply running it in shifts? And the boats, could they fit everyone in the under the castle? If they ran it in alphabetical by last name shifts she might not get to sit with Harry or Ron and that would . . . mess up the plan.

"I think there are just a load of different times and you can pick yours." Fred said. "We're taking the —"

"Five o'clock to Hogsmeade where we'll pick up Mum, Dad, Charlie, Bill and Fleur's stuff and then we'll Floo from the Leaky Cauldron. Well, Ron and Ginny'll have to Floo and I don't know about the others, but we'll probably Apparate." George chimed in.

"Right," Fred nodded. "There's no need to waste time."

"Or Floo powder." George added with a grin.

Ron rolled his eyes and turned around to look at Harry and Hermione. "What about you two? Which train are you taking?"

"I-I think I'll take that one too. I haven't heard yet from my parents." Hermione answered. Hopefully they remembered to give the owl a treat, because owls tended to get spiteful if you forgot to feed them and they would send your letters off to strangers or just one building to the left of where you wanted it to go. Of course there was also the question of whether or not they understood the _significance_ of her message. It wasn't every day that the school Headmaster died, but you could never tell with dentists. They might get distracted by some new micro-technology that allowed you to buffer away years of plaque in less than fifteen minutes! and just send a condolence card, with some dental floss inside; she really hated oral science. It sucked up people's lives and turned them into freakish teeth fanatics. She had to talk to them too, before she left to go and hunt the Horcruxes with Harry, for either blessing, some vague acknowledgement of her departure, or just new toothbrushes and toothpaste for everyone.

Harry remained silent as the sun glinted off his glasses.

"I'll take that one as well."

There was a general nodding of agreement and the twins slipped off to get Ron's trunk.

Ron watched them go and tried to remind himself that Hogwarts was just one step in a Wizard's life, a single step, or a pause of sorts where you figured out some things about yourself, learned a couple spells and snogged a girl for the first time before you went off into the real world. They had done fine without graduating hadn't they? Who _really_ needed to know all of that stuff anyway? If Harry didn't kill You-Know-Who then there would be no Ministry of Magic and therefore no Aurorer job for him NOT to have because he was not qualified. It was all about priorities: make sure there's a world tomorrow and then worry about how you were going to survive in it.

"I'm going to go check and see if my parents sent a reply owl." Hermione said. "I'll . . . I'll probably see you around and if not then we'll just meet up at the station."

Ron nodded. That made sense, of course. She should probably make sure her parents were coming before she left. She could Apparate now and didn't need a ride, but it was probably still better to give them some advance warning that their daughter was going to show up. Muggles could be rather touchy when people popped up without prior notice.

Harry slumped back against the tree and slid to the ground. His hand stayed in his pocket, fingering the locket and feeling it warm against his skin. A wedding in Julyand then, he would have to get directions to Godric's Hollow. He had never been there before, but Godric's would come after he went to the Dursleys', for the very last time, and then possibly a trip to Gringotts? He would need money to finance all of this and a place to live, not to mention food, and would he be able to take Hedwig with him? What would happen if he did not? Could he leave her with Hagrid? Where was Hagrid going to live if they closed Hogwarts? Harry hated how he was free, but _not_, because Voldemort was still alive and even if the prophecy was not one hundred percent for certain, Voldemort thought it was and that madeit true. Harry hated that. Why did _he_ get to decide? Why didn't anyone ask Harry what he thought, if he was ready to be the Boy Who Lived and give up Ginny Weasley because he could not be Harry Potter and Ginny's boyfriend at the same time without someone dying?

"Hey." Harry looked up. Ron had turned and was staring at him. "Um, back there with . . ."

"— your sister?"

"Yeah, that."

It was incredibly awkward and Harry was annoyed that he had to bring it up. He couldn't even bring himself to say it and he wanted to talk about it? That was stupid, and completely unfair. It wasn't like Harry WANTED to do it. He did not have a choice and Ron did not have to come along and throw salt in the wound by cuddling with Hermione and then bringing it up, so much for friends having some sort of "connection" or whatever load of bollocks Ginny read to him that other day in her magazine, complete and utter trash that was.

"Look, it wasn't going to work because I'm the Boy Who Lived," he snapped. "So let's just leave it, okay?"

"Whoa, Harry, it's okay. I just wanted to make sure that you, y'know, were okay and there wasn't anything . . . I just didn't want you to be upset, okay?"

Harry swallowed and he felt Ron watching him as he pushed the spit down his throat. Breathe, Harry. He is your mate. Sometimes he's a little . . . stupid about things but it _was_ his sister. It was awfully nice of him to ask you how _you_ are before he even asks her. He even let you date her, and kiss her, without making you fight to the death first. That means something. "Yeah, it's okay. Thanks."

Ron grunted. "No problem."

Harry pulled his knees up and rested his head on his arms.

"So, how're we going to do this?"

"Huh?" Harry turned his head and Ron was still standing there looking at him with his hands in his pockets.

"What's the plan? Are we going straight to your aunt and uncle's or do you wanna stop by my place first? My mum would probably give us some food," he added. "Since they, well, you know."

"Yeah, we might have to do that since she doesn't exactly know about the plans yet." Harry added.

Ron blushed, "that too."

"What'll she say?"

"Oh, 'don't go,' '_Ronald Bilius Weasley, what have I told you about being careful!_'" He did an imitation that was nothing at all like Mrs. Weasley, but won points for inventiveness. "The usual, probably the same thing she tells the twins every day, just put in my name instead of 'Fred' or 'George.'"

Harry smiled. He felt bad taking Ron away, especially since Mrs. Weasley had already lost Percy and Bill was recovering from the bites and about to go off and live with Fleur, but he was selfish and he didn't _really_ want to do it alone. The last part, obviously, he had to do alone but he couldn't hunt down the Horcruxes by himself, well he could but it would take too long and too many people would get hurt or killed while he shuffled around England like a moron with no idea where to start looking other than: cup, locket, snake, something of Ravenclaw's and something of Gryffindor's. Then he would have to go find Voldemort by himself, although he was pretty sure that Voldemort would be looking for him by the time he found the five other Horcruxes and he would not have to worry about that one.

"I reckon they'd try to help us."

"Who?"

"The twins," Ron said. "They're —hey, did anyone tell them yet about Malfoy . . ."

Harry thought for a minute. "I don't think so."

"Huh, that'll be interesting. I'm really glad I don't have to do that. They'll be _furious_. They probably didn't sell it to him so someone's got to be doing a black market in their Wheezes or something."

"Do you think so?" Harry sat up. "Who would've sold stuff to _Malfoy_?"

"Dunno, wouldn't have been a Gryffindor, that's for sure."

"That doesn't really narrow it down though." Harry pointed out.

"I know. Probably not a Hufflepuff, they're too . . . no, it couldn't have been one of them."

Harry nodded because he didn't really have an opinion and at least Ron's thought was a starting point. He was not so sure about Hufflepuffs just being blind following-types because Cedric . . . had not been that and he was one of the best Hufflepuffs to have ever lived. But then again, Harry did not really socialize outside of the Tower so he did not know much about Hufflepuffs outside of the classroom and Quidditch pitch. Maybe they really did walk around in giant yellow lemming-hoards, what did he know? But they can ask questions and look around later, with Hermione who always planned things really well and would not mind doing the boring research parts. She could go talk with Fred and George about purchase histories and all that other stuff she knew about. It was quiet again and Harry heard Ron rustling through his robes.

"We should probably go back now," he said.

"What?" Ron looked up. He had been staring at his wand trying to remember the spell for cleaning clothes because Hermione left a big wet spot on his shoulder when she had cried earlier. It was itchy as it dried.

"It's getting late and I still have to bring my stuff out before we leave." Harry pushed himself off the ground and wiped the dirt off of his hands.

"Just give me a moment, how do you clean this again?"

Harry took out his wand and pointed it at Ron's shoulder. "_Scourgify_."


End file.
